How to measure marketing success and find your cost per new student acquisition

Abstract

Marketing dollars need to be justified, and tying spending to both direct and indirect results can help clarify marketing efforts and aid in decision-making. Far too often, educational institutions build marketing campaigns around creative concepts and overlook the necessary element of measurement. Developing methods for evaluating brand and acquisition efforts are challenging. This paper looks at ways to develop metrics that can assist in measuring marketing success through concepts like brand recall and cost per new student acquisition. College executives have opportunities available to build reporting that clearly communicates value in marketing campaigns. After reviewing measurement methodologies, the paper will evaluate a real-world case study to explore ideas for building a marketing plan and generating reports that demonstrate success.